into the integrated phase where we track
the number of sorties we y and how
e ectively we do those missions. Our
LSOs have gone to France, and theirs
are here working daily with ours, so that
integration phase has been happening for
quite a while.’
Indeed, the rst four days consisted of
intense carrier operations, starting around
noon and continuing for 12 hours. Each
day more and more aircraft and pilots
arrived on the ship from Oceana.
Flying operations during this period
involved only pattern work, with aircraft
launching and joining the landing
pattern to practise arrested landings, or
‘traps’, on board the ship. Typically, pilots
would conduct several ‘bounces’ in a
row, touching down on the deck without
lowering the arresting hook and going
round again. Eventually, they would land,
and the aircraft would then taxi and take
o again directly from the bow catapults,
which were used simultaneously. This
is one of the key di erences that the
French crews noticed while on board. On
the de Gaulle, it is impossible to conduct
launches and recoveries simultaneously.
Since the Bush is almost twice the size,
this is a regular practice. In addition, the
American carrier features slightly longer
catapults, as well as a bigger deck that
makes taxiing and maneuvering the
aircraft easier.
CDR Stephane, o cer commanding the
French E-2C Hawkeye squadron, gavean overview of the carrier quali cations
element: ‘This is part of our training
to make our carrier operational — the
procedures are very similar, so it’ll help
us to do the same on the Charles de
Gaulle. We have ve pilots and eight
NFOs here, including one American who
is an exchange o cer in my squadron
for three years. We also have a French
exchange o cer with VAW-120, which
is the US Navy training squadron for the
E-2. This program is very valuable to us;
I was also an exchange o cer years ago
with the same squadron.
‘The carrier quali cation requirement
is four day traps and four night traps per
pilot. I have ve pilots, of whom all will
qualify by day and three by night.’
A total of 22 Rafale pilots were working
to receive their carrier training, ve
of them transitioning from the Super
Étendard. The CVW-8 squadrons also had
pilots who needed to earn their carrier
quali cations. Deck landing currencyexpires depending on how long it has
been since the pilot last trapped. For
example, VFA-87 had 12 pilots embarked,
of whom eight were able to complete
their quali cation on the rst day.
Landing on board an American carrier is
familiar for the French Navy pilots, since
most of them had received initial ight
training in the US, ying T-45 Goshawks
or E-2s. CDR Stephane mentioned that
he had trapped on three di erent Nimitz
class carriers during various training
sessions, while conversely Lt Rodgers
from VFA-87 had previously embarked
on the Charles de Gaulle and observed
operations, albeit without trapping on it
with an F/A-18.Cyclic operations
The French aircraft stayed on the
George H. W. Bush for 10 days, taking the
opportunity to spend the rest of their
time integrating into the air wing and
conducting the same tactical missions as
they did on land. However, this time they
had to conduct them from a carrier, in a
process known as ‘cycl ic operations’. This
meant combining the Rafales and Super
Hornets to conduct missions as a mixed
section or division.
A group of aircraft would be launched
in one big wave, y a mission and come
back. A second series of ghters would
launch as the rst series recovered.
This is known as a ‘cycle’. CAPT McCall
elaborates: ‘The rst thing a naval aviatorInset above:
CDR Marc, the
French carrier air
group boss.
Below: A fabulous
shot of a Rafale
M performing a
low approach to
the carrier, with
an EA-18G in the
background.OPS REPORT // US/FRENCH NAVY CARRIER TRAINING
70 August 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
66-72 Rafales on Bush C.indd 70 21/06/2018 13:54